Have I Got News For You has lost its edge

TV review: The first episode in a new series proved that Have I Got News For You isn’t what it used to be.

Hislop and Merton are back in Have I Got News For You, but has the show’s wit lost its cutting edge?

The venerable satirical panel show returned with a new series and a new timeslot on a Thursday night. Our host was Benedict Cumberbatch, who may be a fine actor, but whose hosting skills didn’t quite live up to the hilarity of his name.

In a week where Chilean miners have dominated the news, the programme’s challenge was surely to find enough to say about the underground drama to viewers who had only just finished watching wall-to-wall coverage of the rescue.

But as it was the first in a new series, the team covered stories from the last few weeks anyway, poking fun at the familial leadership controversies of the Labour party and the North Korean government and featuring the obligatory Boris Johnson buffoonery clip.

Criticism of the programme in recent years has focussed on the notion that its comedy has lost its kick, leaving it sitting a safe distance from the cutting edge where it used to perch.

If last night’s episode was anything to go by, this series will be no different. HIGNFY regulars Paul Merton and Ian Hislop were still funny, but their humour was more gently amusing than bitingly acerbic.

However, just because the show is beyond the point of setting the world on fire, it doesn’t mean it’s completely lost its value.

Viewers fed up of Mock The Week-style nastiness and seeking familiarity will have enjoyed the altogether classier HIGNFY ensemble. Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with some gentle, uncomplicated and inoffensive humour.